Proof press cylinder adjustment



Jan. 31, 1933. l E. o. vANDERcooK ET AL 1,895,501

PROOF PRESS CYLINDER ADJUSTMENT Filed July 17. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z FEW/:F5

Jan. 31, 1933. E, o. vANnERcoQK ET AL 1,895,501

PROOF PRESS CYLINDER ADJUSTMENT Filed July 17. 1931 2 sheets-sheet 2 J/EWEFE Patented Jan. 31, 1933 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EDWARD O. VANDEBCOOK, DAVID D. VANDERCOOK AND FREDERICK R. VANDERCOOK,

OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOBS TO VANDERCOOK & SONS, 01E' CHICAGO, ILLI- NCIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS PROOF :PRESS CYLINDER ADJUSTMENT Application led July 17,

Our invention relates to proof presses and the object is to provide simplified and renable means for raising and lowering` the printing cylinder and for determining and ad] ustn ing with great precision the height of the cylinder above vthe printing bed for the desired degree of printing pressure so that printers forms or set-uns may be accurately checked and proofed before run printing therefrom.

As type may be set up in ordinary printers forms or in galleys, an important fea-ture of our invention is the provision of a dial and indications thereon for determining with accuracy and precision theheight of the c ylinder above the press bed for proof printing from either ordinary type set-ups or from galley set-ups.

Our invention also comprises other features of arrangement, operation and aplpistment, all of which are incorporated in the structure disclosed on the drawings, in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a section of a printing bed and the cylinder carriage mounted thereon; and

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the bed and the carriage with parts of the carriage in vertical section.

rl`he printing bed 10 shown has the channels 11 and 12 in its opposite sides each providing the upper and lower horizontal rail surfaces 13 and 14, the upper surfaces 13 being accurately formed in order to be accurately parallel with the flat top surface 15 of the bed on which surface the printers fornis, set-ups or galleys are placed for proof printing.

The cylinder carriage comprises side frames 16 and 17, each of which supports a set of outer rollers 18 and 19 and inner rollers 2O and 21. The outer rollers are mounted on shafts 22 extending inwardly from the frames and these rollers engage with the top rail surfaces 13 of the channels 11 and 12. Each of the inner rollers is secured on the end of a shaft section 23 which extends from but is offset laterally from a main shaft 2li journalled in the adjacent side frame of the carriage, the offset being laterally outwardly 1931. Serial N0. 551,398.

and the rollers 21 engaging the lower surfaces 14: of the channels 11 and 12. Extending downwardly from the outer end of each shaft 24 is a lever arm 25, the arm being rigidly secured to the shaft as by means of a key 26 and also by a nut 27 engaging a threaded end of the shaft. The end of each arni has the longitudinal slot 28 receiving a pin 29 extending inwardly from the respective carriage side frame, the pin between the frame and the lever carrying a compression spring 30, this spring exerting pressure against the arm and tending to rotate the shaftv24r to swing the inner shaft part 23 downwardly and apply the respective roller against the surface 14 of the respective channel. rlhe springs 30 thus function to swing the rollers 2O and 21 downwardly against the lower channel surfaces 14 and thereby hold the carriage side frames with the rollers 18 and 19 engaging the upper surfaces 13 of the channels so that even though the lower surfaces 14 may not be truly'parallel with the bed top surface 15, the rollers 18 and 19r will be held always against the upper surfaces 13 and so cause the carriage structure to travel accurately along the press bed.

A cross bar 3l extends between and is rigidly secured to the upper end of the carriage side frames 16 and 17 and holds these frames in proper relative alignment. Below this cross bar 31, a shaft 32 extends through openings 33 in the side frames and supports the printing cylinder 34. The shaft is journalled at its ends in plates 35 and 36 which are rectangular, the bearings for the shaft being substantially inid-way between the ends of the plates, the plates abutting against the lugs or bosses 37 and 38 on the carriage side frames. At one end each plate is pivoted to the respective carriage side frame onV a pivot stud 39 extending from the frame and at its opposite end each plate has a rectangular slot 10.

Extending between the plates and parallel with the cylinder shaft is a cam shaft Ll1 having cams ll2 and 43 for yengaging in the slots 110 of the drum supporting plates 35 and 36 so that when the shaft l1 is rotated the plates will swing on their pivots 39 to raise or lower the cylinder relative to the press bed. For rotating the shaft 41 a stem 44 is extended radially therefrom and terminates in a knob or grip 45. The cams 42 and 43 are circular discs and are similarly arranged on the shaft 41 so that the cylinder will be uniformly raised and lowered when the shaft 41 is turned. rlhe openings 33 in the carriage side frames are sufficiently large so that the plat-es 35 and 36 may freely swing for adjustment of the cylinder.

The cylinder shaft 32 carries at its front end a crank handle 46. Within each side frame 16 and 17 the cylinder shaft supports a gear 47 meshing with an upper idler gear 48 which meshes with a lower idler gear 49, the lower idler gear meshing with the lower gear 50 on a shaft 51 which inside of the respective side frame carries a propulsion gear 52 which meshes with the rack teeth 53 on the Linder side of the bed plate 10. The rack teeth may be on the under sides of bars 53 which are secured to the sides of the bed plate and which may form the rail surfaces 14 for the lower rollers 2O and 21. "When the crank handle 46 is turned the gears will transmit rotation to the propulsion gears 52 which engage the rack bars and the carriage will then be shifted back and forth on the bed plate, the dimensions of the gears relativ-e to the printing cylinder being such that there will be no circumferential movement gf the printing cylinder relative to the press Closure or guard plates 54 and 55 are detachably secured against the outer side of the carriage side frames 16 and 17 to house the gearing and to protect the operator from contact with the gearing.

At the front end of the cylinder adjusting shaft 41 is secured a circular dial plate 56 against which a detent point 57 is pressed by a spring 5S secured by a lug 59 to the plate 54. This dial has two sets of peripheral notches 60 and 61 placed diametrically opposite on the dial and as shown the circumferential extent of each set may be equivalent to 20/1000 of an inch vertical movement of the cylinder relative to the press bed surface 15. The dial set 60 is used for adjusting the cylinder when proof printing is to be taken from ordinary printers forms or type setups, while the set 61 is to be used for adjusting the cylinder when proof printing is to be taken from a galley. As shown, the knob 45 is located on thevshaft 41 so that when it is swung to extend downwardly the highest point of the cam rollers 42 and 43 will be down and the plates and 36 will be swung down to bring the cylinder to its shortest distance above; the bed plate surface 15, and then with an ordinary type setup on the bed the printing impression will be about 20/1000 of an inch, the detent 57 being in the notch numbered 2O to indicate such impression. If a less impression is desired, the knob is swung counter-clockwise, and when the zero notch comes under the detent point 57 the cylinder will be at substantially type height above the printing bed surface 15. By consulting the dial, the operator will always know ust what the printing impression will be for the best work, and this degree of impression can then be used on the regular printing press when the proof type set-up is inserted in the press for a printing run.

If a galley set-up is to be proof printed the knob 45 is swung around 180o to extend upwardly at which time the detent 57 will be in the notch 0 of the detent set 61 and the high points of the cams will be up to hold the plates 35 and 36 for positioning of the cylinder at its highest distance above the bed plate surface 15, and the cams are designed so that for this upper position of the cylinder it will be substantially galley height from the surface 15. By swinging the knob counterclockwise from its uppermost position, the cylinder will move downwardly until the desired printing impression is reached and the degree of impression will be indicated on the dial set 61.

rllhe rollers 18 and 19 may also be eccentrically mounted on their shafts 22 so that the cylinder carriage may be bodily adjusted relative to the press bed surface 15 to compensate for any wear and for primarily truing up the cylinder relative to the surface 15. l he pressure of the springs 30 communicated to the rollers'20 and 21 will hold these roll` ers to the rail surfaces 14 and will hold the carriage struct-ure upwardly with the rollers 18 and 19 always engaging the upper rail surfaces 13, and as these upper surfaces 13 are accurately finished to be in absolute parallelism with the printin r bed surface 15 the cylinder will always be properly located relative to the surface 15 subject to inal precision adjustment by means of the cams 42 and 423 andthe dial indication.

We thus provide simple and eilcient means whereby the cylinder of a proof press may be adjusted with accuracy and precision for determining the proper printing impression for the set-up which has been proof printed. lWe have shown a practical embodiment of the features of our invention, but we do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction,arrangement and operation as changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Ve claim as follows:

1. ln a proof press, the combination of the press bed, a carriage mounted on said bed for reciprocation thereon, a printing cylinder, vertically movable bearing frames for said cylinder on said carriage, a cam associated with each bearing frame, and a common actuating means for said cams for moving said frames to thereby adjust the cylinder relative to the press bed.

2. In a proof press, the combination of a press bed, a printing cylinder carriage mounted on said bed for longitudinal travel relative thereto, a printing cylinder, bearing structures for said cylinder movably supported by said carriage, a cam associated with each bearing structure, and a rotatable shaft journalled on said carriage and connected with said cams, rotation of said shaft causing rotation of said cams to move said bearing structures for vertical adjustment of said cylinder relative to the press bed.

3. In a proof press, the combination of the press bed, a carriage reciprocable on said bed, a printing cylinder, bearing frames journalling the ends of said cylinder, said bearing frames being pivoted at one end on said carriage and having cam notches at their other end, a cam engaging in the notch of each bearing frame, a shaft journalled on said carriage and supporting said cams, and means for rotating` said shaft for rotation of said cams to swing said bearing frames to thereby eifect vertical adjustment of the printing cylinder relative to the press bed.

4. In a proof press, the combination of a press bed, a carriage reciproc-able along said bed, a printing cylinder, a supporting shaft for the cylinder, bearing frames for said shaft pivot-ed at one end to said carriage and each having a cam slot at its other end, `a cylindrical cam member engaging in each slot, a shaft journalled on said carriage and on which said cam members are eccentrically mounted whereby turning of said shaft will turn the cam members to swing said bearing frames for vertical adjustment of said cylinder relative to the press bed.

5. In a proof press, the combination of a printing bed, a carriage reciprocable over said bed, a printing cylinder and a supporting shaft therefor, bearing frames for the ends of said shaft journalling said shaft between their ends, said bearing frames at one end being pivoted on said carriage and each having a cam slot at its other end, cam members engaging in said slots, a supporting shaft for said cam members journalled on said carriage, means for rotating said shaft and the cam members thereon to thereby swing said bearing frames to eect vertical adjustment of said cylinder relative to the press bed, and dial means operated by the rotation of the cam shaft for indicating with precision the height of said cylinder above the press bed.

6. In a proof press, the combination of a press bed, a carriage reciprocable along said bed, a printing cylinder, movable bearing frames for said cylinder mounted on said carriage, a cam shaft, cams on said shaft engaging said bearing frames for moving said frames to adjust the cylinder relative to the printing bed when the cam shaft is turned, and dial means associated with said cam shaft and having two sets of indications thereon, one set serving to indicate adjustment of the cylinder by the cam shaft for type proof printing and the other set serving for indieating the adjustment of the cylinder for galley proof printing.

7. In a proof press, the combination of a printing bed having longitudinal channels in its sides presenting upper and lower rail surfaces, said upper surfaces being accurately nished to be parallel with the upper surface of the printing bed, a carriage having side frames, rollers on said side frames for engaging said upper rail surfaces, rollers on said side frames for engaging said lower rail surfaces, shafts supported by said side frames having offset inner ends on which said lower rail surface engaging rollers are mounted, arms extending from said shafts, and springs acting against said arms to rotate said shafts to press said rollers against said lower rail surfaces and to elevate the carriage to hold said other rollers at all times against the upper rail surfaces whereby said carriage will always travel parallel with the upper surface ofl the printing bed.

8. In a proof press, the combination of the press bed, a carriage reciprocable on said bed, a printing cylinder, bearing frames on said carriage journalling the ends of said cylinder, means for moving said frames for vert-ical adjustment of said cylinder relative to the press bed, and an indicator means operable by said adjusting means for indicating the height of the printing cylinder above the press bed. y

9. In a proof press, the combination of the press bed, a carriage reciprocable on said bed, a printing cylinder, bearing frames on said carriage journalling the ends of said cylinder, and adjusting means for moving said frames for vertical vadjustment of said cylinder relative to the press bed, said means including a graduated indicator which tells the height of the printing cylinder above the press bed.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names at Chica-go, Cook County, Illinois.

EDVARD C. VANDERCOOK. DAVID D. VANDER-COOK. FREDERICK R. VANDERCOOK. 

